EURO Africa ICT Meeting 4-5 February 2010, Addis Ababa

Nodumo Dhlamini, the ICT Programme Manager at RUFORUM attended the 2010 Euro-Africa Cooperation Forum on ICT Research at the UN Conference Centre Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The theme of the conference was "Learning and Reflecting on ICT Collaborative Research and Development - Projecting the Future of ICT Research in Africa". RUFORUM's interest in this meeting was to make contact with European Partners, with a view to collaborating as partners in the submission of a proposal in response to the FP7 ICT Call that was issued on the 24th of November 2009.

The EuroAfriCa-ICT project aims at promoting and supporting the development of S&T cooperation on ICT research between Europe and sub-Saharan Africa and between Europe and the Caribbean. The main activities are:

• Organisation of two "Euro-Africa Cooperation Forums on ICT Research": one in Europe (Brussels, Belgium - 2009) and one in Africa (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - in early 2010),
• Organisation of five FP7/ICT awareness workshops in Africa and the Caribbean (Benin, Jamaica, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda) supported by a wide promotion of opportunities offered by FP7/ICT,
• Organisation of four concertation meetings in Europe supported by the implementation of strong links with national, European and international programmes and initiatives (including European Technology Platforms, ETPs and Joint Technology Initiatives, JTIs),
• Support to the development of partnerships and emerging cooperation projects based - among other things - on the implementation and development of a EuroAfriCa-ICT database.

Science and Technology (S&T) and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are now widely recognised as key vectors for bridging the scientific and digital divides, for reducing poverty and ensuring socio-economic development, reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and, eventually, supporting the sustainable evolution towards a peaceful, integrated and prosperous continent, making it a full player of the global community.

Please visit this link to view the proceedings, report, photo gallery, and other conference documents.